The Strength Within
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: The Hulk was a monster. Or so he had been led to believe after being hunted like a rabid animal for so many years. But he felt even more of a monster of late, here, in the city. Where everything and everyone were as fragile as eggshells. But for some reason she didn't think he was a monster. She was brave, and strong, and everything he ever wanted to be. Hulk/OC R&R!
1. Chapter 1

A monster. That's what he was.

He could feel it in his heart and mind, both had long been steeped in darkness. His once analogical mind was now a foreign thing to him, fragmented, enraged, suffering... Lost. Perhaps that was the best way to describe him. Lost.

Lost to humanity. To sanity. To the ones he once called his family and friends- He was nothing more than a danger.

A sleeping beast who when prodded would lash out mindlessly. Although of late he had noticed something about himself was changing. It wasn't the rage or pain he felt, if anything those only escalated. And it wasn't his a-typical appearance (The moss green skin and eerie glowing green eyes. His height and build; seven foot eight with arms and legs covered in muscle's as thick as tree trunks and a torso with thick skin difficult to penetrate.) Nor was it his hair, black with faint green highlights to it.

No he had noticed of late that his mind was working at a pace it hadn't before. His usually choppy speech patterns were smoother. More flowing. He understood words other than 'no' and 'don't' and 'Hulk smash'. He had started to pick up old habits, from before when he had been completely human. Reading, writing poetry, building things that needed a delicate touch...

The last one still frustrated him a bit since his hands were the size of twenty eight pound frozen hams. But he had expected it to frustrate him. That didn't mean that he gave up on his work easily. No did it mean that his work totally functioned.

But at least he was trying.

Still, that wasn't completely it for the current changes he was undergoing. No, it was his mind. It had once been brilliant, analogical, calculating. And in the past few weeks he had felt it start to become so again.

He was contributing more. Working on things that no one else could. Fixing what had once been broken and destroyed. He couldn't help himself, he felt a very strong pull toward broken and destroyed things. Thinking that if he couldn't save them then maybe he couldn't be saved either.

He stood in his room in the Avenger's mansion/HQ and stared out the window with troubled eyes at the city outside. It was bustling with life. People. Animals. Plants, buildings, cars... All of them as fragile as eggshells to him.

_What am I doing here? _He wondered in apprehension as he watched a school bus full of small children go by. He didn't belong in the city. Even as a part of something bigger then himself, like the Avengers.

He was no hero. Never had been. Never would be.

He knew what he was deep down inside, in his heart of hearts. He was a monster. Every single part of him from his eye lashes to his toes. And if he stayed in the city with the Avengers for much longer he'd become the worst kind of monster there was...

A killer.


	2. Chapter 2

Gale Alexis Ericsson sat on the exam table in room two sixty six waiting for the doctor to come in with her lab results. Her head was hung, her slender shoulders were hunched in, making it look as if her body was trying to collapse in on itself. Her lavender colored eyes were on her hands, tightly fisted in her lap. Her long dark hair slipped over her shoulders like a silk curtain, hiding her pale face from view as she tried to think of several possible ways out of her current situation.

She had discovered about a week ago that she had cancer. A nasty aggressive one with a survival rate of just under ten percent. But that didn't mean that she was dying. Not yet at least. And it certainly didn't mean that she was going to just give in to her fate.

No, not her.

Gale was what she had been named after, a force of nature. Swift, aggressive and merciless (but only when backed into a corner). She simply didn't know how to lay down and die. Not for people. And certainly not for any damn disease. Chewing her lower lip she thought wryly, _I guess it's a good thing I don't know the definition of defeat. _

And it was since she'd probably be feeling pretty defeated right now if she had known.

The door across the room creaked and she perked up, automatically shoving her troubled thoughts aside as she straightened her spine and stared straight ahead almost blankly, but if the doctor had bothered to look at the expression of defiance on her face as he stepped into the room with her file, he would have taken a step back in shock.

She was no simpering miss in need of rescue. She was Gale. Nature itself in human form.

And she would _not_ be defeated!

(************************************************* ************************************************** ***********)

Ironman slammed into the side of a car, the screech of metal hitting metal and bowing under the weight of his armor assaulting his ears as he swore. "Ah! Dammit, Jarvis activate-" He was cut off by Captain America's voice as he landed on the semi crushed vehicle next to him.

"Ironman! Are you alright?"

Ironman made an irritated growling sound and twisted his body over onto his stomach so that he could see his friends, each of them were engaged in combat with a member of the gang of thugs who called themselves the wrecking crew. Muscle bound morons with delusions of grandeur. A hand came down on his shoulder, reminding him of the Cap's presence as he was asked again if he was alright.

Nodding, Ironman yelled out, "Hulk!" Causing the large green monster of a man to turn and look at him as he shoved his opponent hard enough to send him sprawling to the pavement head over feet several times.

_If he say's Hulk smash, I'm going to hurt him._ Hulk thought a moment before Ironman yelled, "Smash those bozo's!" Baring his teeth at the irksome armor wearing millionare/leader of the Avengers. Oh he was going to smash someone alright. But it wasn't going to be the wrecking crew. It was going to be Stark if he didn't watch his tone.

He could even already imagine what would be on Stark's tombstone.

**_Here lies Tony Stark, smartass._**

Ironman issued the command again just as Hulk was charged by another one of the gang and was tackled while in the middle of flipping Stark off. He hit the ground with all the force of ten tons, shaking the ground underneath his body as if it had just been hit by an earthquake as he grappled with his enemy.

(************************************************* ************************************************** *********************)

Gale was in the middle of hearing what her doctor had to say when the whole hospital started shaking. Putting a hand up to quiet the doc, she tilted her head and looked towards the window. She couldn't see anything at first. Not from her current vantage point. But then she was sitting on a table in a hospital on the fourth floor.

Jumping down she quickly moved over to the window as the building started to shake violently, large cracks appearing in the glass and the walls around it as plaster fell from the ceiling overhead. _Oh shit. _She thought in disbelief as she saw the all out brawl taking place down on the street across from the hospital. The Avengers were fucking up the city again with their inhuman strength and high tech weapons.

She could clearly see Captain America tossing a large man up into the air and then knocking him down, pushing his body through the pavement. Ironman was using his armored suit to blast away one guy while Hulk picked up a large truck and held it over his head for a moment and then threw it at the guy he was facing.

However instead of hitting his intended target, the truck flew straight into the hospital lobby. Followed by screams, shouting and the blaring of alarms that could be heard from every corner of the building as she turned to the doc and snapped, "Start evacuating the hospital!"

"Wh-Wha?" The terrified man asked stupidly, his mind going blank. He didn't understand what was happening! What was that loud crashing sound? Why was the building shaking? He could barely stand!

"Evacuate the goddamn hospital!" Gale yelled at him as she reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and jerked him up from his semi vertical stance against the wall.

He was about to shake his head and tell her that he couldn't. It was much too late for that when there was a loud booming sound like something blowing up, coming from right under their feet.

He and Gale looked down, both of their faces ashen, their eyes widening in horror a mere moment before she threw him towards the door and fell through a large hole that had appeared out of no where.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Evacuate the goddamn hospital!" Gale yelled at him as she reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and jerked him up from his semi vertical stance against the wall._

_He was about to shake his head and tell her that he couldn't. It was much too late for that when there was a loud booming sound like something blowing up, coming from right under their feet._

_He and Gale looked down, both of their faces ashen, their eyes widening in horror a mere moment before she threw him towards the door and fell through a large hole that had suddenly appeared out of no where. _

(************************************************* ************************************************** **********************)

Ironman saw Hulk freeze out of the corner of his eye as Thor came running past him with Captain America, both of them moving just as fast as their legs would carry them towards a building that looked- looked... "Oh my god." Stark breathed in shock and horror as Hawkeye shot an arrow at one of the wrecking crew then ran over to him and pointed while yelling almost hysterically,

"Holy fucking-"

"Jarvis! Contact all police, fire departments and hospitals within a ten mile radius! Tell them that we need everyone that they can spare. The hospital on thirty-third street is on fire and part of it's inside structure looks like it's going to collapse!"

_'Yes sir.' _Jarvis said as Ironman turned to look at the Hulk in concern.

Big green hadn't moved so much as a muscle since the truck had gone through the building. No doubt he was frozen in fear of what may happen next as the sounds of hysterical screams, and a flood of people- wounded, unconscious and barely standing- either ran out of the building on their own or were carried and dragged out by doctors and nurses and close family members and friends a few moments before there was a loud creaking sound. Followed by the earsplitting shriek of metal giving in under the weight of too much stone.

"Oh god..." Stark muttered again as he watched wide eyed as the building started to cave in on itself.

(************************************************* ************************************************** ***************************)

Gale's awareness of the hysteria around her, returned to her slowly as she tried to recall what had happened through the skull splitting pain in her head. By the time she became completely aware of what had happened- falling through the sink hole that had appeared in the floor under her feet, falling several floors before crashing into a metal frame belonging to a hospital bed, flipping and hitting the her head on the floor hard enough to knock her unconscious.

Groaning, she started to shift and felt something strangely akin to a hard male body carrying her through a room filled with smoke and debris. Looking up through the smoke, she could make out what looked like a blue half mask partially hiding a handsome face.

She coughed and started to squirm around a little bit, wanting him to put her down but was stopped by the feel of his arms tightening around her a moment before he said, "Stay still Miss. You're injured and I need to get you out of here before the building comes down."

She started to shake her head and tell him no, that there were others who needed him much more than she did. And he should be helping them but she never managed to get the words out, her thoughts were so fractured. Muddled and confused. And then there was the fact that there were alarms and screaming. All of which echoed so loudly in her ears, making her head throb so painfully that she thought she might pass out from it.

Letting her head fall back, she tried to breathe through the pain and focus.

These people needed help. The guy carrying her needed help. Dammit someone had to help evacuate the building!

"P-Put me down."

"No." Came the authoritative reply from her would be rescuer. Her lips twitched a bit in wry amusement as she squirmed again, this time enough for soldier boy's hold to slacken to the point where he almost dropped her.

"What are you doing?" He demanded in a pissed tone as her feet touched the floor and she looked around at the chaos around them. The smoke wasn't as so thick that she couldn't analyze the area around them as sparks shot from the lights overhead and flames licked at the floor and walls just up ahead.

"Where are we?"

"Near the lobby."

Gale tsked at soldier boy's simple mindedness. If he thought the lobby was a safe place to start pulling people from, he was crazy. Especially with the truck that had been thrown into the building still sitting there where the flames could reach the gas and light the building up like the damn fourth of July. "We need to go back. It's not safe to go out through there."

Hero-boy looked at her questioningly and she gave a much suffered sigh, God why was it always the beautiful one's who were fools? She wondered as she said, "You see those flames." It wasn't a question. Blue eyes flickered from her face to the flames as the smoke started to thicken around them. It wouldn't be but a minute or so more before those flames hit something highly flammable and set everything ablaze. "There are enough oxygen tanks and chemicals in this building to make the upcoming explosion noticeable from space! Get it?"

Her tone was rude, irritated, but most of all he could sense the underlying concern she felt for the people still trapped in the building. To be honest he hadn't given those things a thought when he had rushed into the building. He had only been trying to do what he was supposed to do. Save the civilians and damn the consequences.

He was over two hundred years old, he had lived a full life. But the sick and injured people in the building- to him were nothing more than children in desperate need of protecting. And the woman was right, now that he took a moment to think about it.

They needed another way out before- There was a high pitched shriek, like the sound of metal twisting and breaking under enormous pressure and he barely had time to tackle the woman to the floor and use his body to shield her own before the whole damned building came down on top of them and neither knew no more.


	4. Chapter 4

_Wow, here we are the forth chapter and no one has left so much as a comment. That makes me a bit self conscious considering how hard I'm trying to make this a good read. _

_By the way, for anyone who has known thanks to reading some of my other stuff- I went to the doctor today and he said that the tests he ran on me were inconclusive. He has no idea why I've been getting sick and such. But he wants me to try and gain at least five pounds by the time I see him again in December._

_Frankly I think he's nuts. I won't make the five pound mark because all I can manage to eat now are sandwhich's and salads. And even those are starting to make me sick._

_Anywho- Here's the next chap of Strength Within. Enjoy ya'll!_

(************************************************* ************************************************** **********************)

_They needed another way out before- There was a high pitched shriek, like the sound of metal twisting and breaking under enormous pressure and he barely had time to tackle the woman to the floor and use his body to shield her own before the whole damned building came down on top of them and neither knew no more._

(************************************************* ************************************************** ************************)

Gale lay under her would be savior unconscious, again. Her mind replaying images of her childhood with her family and closest friends. She could see herself running around as a little girl with one of her grandmother's curtains tied around her neck, pretending it was a cape and she was a superhero. She had no particular hero that she looked up too, she just thought what they did was cool.

So for a better part of her childhood, up until her parents and older sister and brother had all died in a car wreck when she was in middle school- she had wanted to be a hero and save everyone.

However she had lost her faith in hero's after that. Opting to believe in something more tangible than a dream that would never happen.

She could see herself the day of her family's death. She had been participating in a school wide talent show and was in the girl's locker room wearing the outfit her mom, sister, and brother had helped her put together. Her grandmother was sitting in the stands in the gym when the police came in to tell her about her family. They had wanted to tell her grandmother, but she had refused to let them due to the fact that she was almost seventy five years old and had a bad heart.

Once they were done telling her what had happened she remembered her best friend coming into the room to tell her that it was time, but upon seeing the cops standing there with sympathetic looks on their faces, she had instead asked her what she wanted to do.

No one would blame her for deciding to sit the talent show out. And she would have, if it hadn't been so damned important to her family that they had died to try and get to her school to see her. So after Gale took a moment to tell her friend to go sit with her grandmother and give her minute to collect herself, she had pushed the feeling of desolation and sorrow away and with shaking hands, picked up the half mask that her mom and sister had put together for her- The black, gold and lavender swirls were beautiful, she thought as she put the mask on.

And looked at herself in the mirror with a critical eye.

The lavender halter style top, the glittering black crystal necklace, her black satin pants and matching leather shoes. Everything looked exactly as it should. There wasn't a hair out of place. She had scarcely recognized herself.

It was scary really.

Stepping out of the locker room she heard the roar of the people cheering for her to give them a show.

She glanced at her grandmother on her way to the middle of the gym and saw her smile and wished to god that she could spare her the news of knowing that her son, daughter-in-law and two of her grandkids were dead. Instead she smiled back and waved at her then walked on, wanting to get the show over with.

Stepping up to the mic set up in a small area between six speakers, she looked at the kids she had been rehearsing her act with for the past few weeks and picked up the guitar that she had borrowed and slipped the strap over her head and started to play. The others behind her had been confused at first, after all she had decided to do a Linkin' Park song, and instead she had started to play Imagine Dragon's; Demons.

But they had caught on quickly enough for no one to know that their confusion wasn't part of the act. And in the end they had rocked the place. But what had really stuck with her wasn't the fact that she had stood before almost a eight hundred people and not just played, but sang too- No what had really stuck with her was the looks on everyone's faces when at the end of the song she had reached up and removed the mask she had been hiding herself behind.

After all, she hadn't always been brave. Or strong. Or defiant.

No, she had used to be scared, mousy, meek. Picked on by upper classmen. Beaten up by fellow classmates for wanting to always do what was right. It was part of why the talent show had been so important to her family. They had wanted to help her come out of her shell.

And boy had she.

Everyone had known her name after that. Everyone had respected her for her strength after that. And the few who tried to lay their hands on her- had wound up in the hospital for their efforts.

(************************************************* ************************************************** ****************************)

Captain America lay on top of the woman in a semi conscious state, trying to will himself to shake off the splintering pain shooting through his body as he tried to push the stone and metal from his back so that he could get up.

It wasn't safe for him or the woman to stay there. And there were still so many people in need of help.

His heart thudded in his chest as he cracked his eyes open a slit and turned his head just enough to look at the woman- hoping against hope that he had managed to protect her from serious harm, and he almost started to panic when his sight was practically painted crimson. From what he didn't know. For all he knew the crimson belonged to the woman's crushed skull.

In fact that was his deepest fear at the moment since she didn't seem to be moving and he couldn't make out her face.

He couldn't even feel the rise and fall of her chest! Was she even alive? He wondered as he tried to move one of his hands up to feel for a pulse. But after a moment or so he realized it was no good. His whole body was trapped under the rubble, pressing down on him. And any movement he managed only caused it to shift dangerously close to the woman's vulnerable limbs.

One wrong move and he could very well maim her or cost her an arm or leg. _Or worse-_ He thought to himself as he gnashed his teeth in anger. Oh he hated this. This feeling of helplessness. He just prayed that Thor, Ironman, Hulk or Hawkeye managed to find him and the woman before they were both crushed to death.

That is if she was still alive...

(************************************************* ************************************************** ******************************)

Thor had just handed a cape full of squaling, angry newborn infants to one of the rescue teams on the scene when Ironman appeared carrying three small children with burns and bruises on them and started handing them off to a couple of firefighters and police officers as he asked, "Where's Cap?"

Thor blinked at the worried note he heard in Ironman's voice and looked back at the building as Hawkeye came out of the rubble carrying an elderly man who had to be in his eighties. The man's left side from the shoulder down had been completely crushed and as Thor got a good look at him as Hawkeye laid him down on the ground, he realized that the man had died.

His eyes were still open and staring blankly ahead into the unknown as Hawkeye carefully, and respectfully arranged his body so that his hands were folded over his stomach then reached over and gently closed his eyes.

"I do not know." Thor finally said as Ironman turned his head to look at him.

"Do you think he was still in there when the building went down?"

Thor pondered Ironman's question for a moment then nodded. Yes. It was a distinct possibility. Captain America wasn't the kind of man who would run for cover and leave innocent civilians in harm's way. "It is possible." He said slowly as Ironman's mask plate lifted to show his face.

There were lines around Tony's eyes and mouth that he only got when he was ill or very upset or concerned about something. "I was hoping that you wouldn't say that," Stark muttered before clapping his hands together and saying, "Okay Avengers, lets find our friend and finish helping these civilians."

"What about Hulk?" Thor asked as he turned his head subtly to look at his large green friend. The creature sat apart from them as far from the mess as he could, looking to Thor like he was trying to blend into the building across the street and be unseen. Tony looked in Hulk's direction and wanted to snap, _What about him?_ But held his tongue.

It wasn't like the Hulk had meant to cause a hospital full of helpless people to collapse. He had merely been trying to do his job. It wasn't like he could have anticipated the guy he'd thrown the truck at to duck. So tearing into him was useless. Besides from the looks of things, Hulk needed to be alone for now. "He's fine where he is for now. If we need him, we'll call. But for now he needs us to leave him alone."


	5. Chapter 5

The Hulk sat on the curb across the street from the building that had collapsed feeling numb with shock. A hospital... A hospital filled to the brim with the injured, ill and dying- and he'd brought it down in a fucking brawl like a goddamn animal.

_I knew I had no place here in the city- _Who knew how many people he had just seriously injured, maimed, or even killed with his own clumsy hands.

Looking down at his large hands, he could almost see the innocent blood staining them and felt his vision blur with tears as panic seized him. He hadn't meant for this to happen! But what if his 'friends' all turned on him for this? What if they attacked him? What if they hated him and realized now that he could never be like them?

A hero. A savior. A-

Hawkeye's voice cut through his thoughts like a knife, reminding him that his friends were still working to resolve the problem that he had caused. "Shit! Where's the Cap? That building is going up faster than the Christmas tree that Thor zapped last year!" Hulk blinked, almost wondering if he had heard wrong when Thor said,

"I thought I saw Captain America heading this way with an injured woman, but when I went by the nursery and saw the infants there- I simply lost sight of him."

"Then he _was_ heading this way?" Tony asked anxiously as Thor shrugged his shoulders. As he had just said, he had thought Captain America had been, but perhaps he had been delayed by something. Another injured person perhaps?

Guys when that truck went up it caused another collapse inside of the building-" Tony said as he pulled up digital plans to the building and ran a simulation, adding the truck to the equation. "If the Cap was caught in that then he and whoever he was trying to bring out may have been crushed by several hundred pounds of solid steel and concrete."

"Then we need to go in and get him out." Hawkeye said as he started for the building only to be stopped by Tony's metal clad hand grasping his wrist and stopping him.

"You're assuming that he's still alive."

"Tsk, Cap may have a few years on us, but he doesn't die easily. You should know that Tony," Hawkeye said as Hulk slowly got to his feet and pushed everything from his mind with the exception of doing one last thing for the Avengers. His body moving of it's own accord, he found himself walking over to the ruins of the hospital. Causing all arguments between Tony and the others to cease as they eyed him curiously. Wondering what he was going to do when he glanced over at Thor and motioned with his head for the man to follow him.

Thor nodded and Hulk stepped through the first few flames, they were small in comparison to many of the others eating away at the structure. Calculating when the next collapse would be, he said very softly to Thor, "The next collapse will happen soon so we need to hurry." Thor nodded and opened his mouth to ask what exactly his plan was when Hulk cut him off by saying, "We need to start looking in the general area you lost sight of the Cap. Can you lead me to it?"

Ah, so that was why Hulk had motioned for him to come with him- How odd since thinking wasn't exactly the Hulk's strong suit. Thor thought in surprise as he pointed through the wall of flames just a few feet away. "Let's go find Cap."

"Uh...alright." Thor said after a moment's hesitation. And who could blame him? If the Hulk was starting to gain the ability to reason through his rage- well, then Thor wasn't going to argue with him. Especially when one of their teammates lives were on the line. Besides arguing took up too much energy and if he managed to win, Cap would be down one rescue party.

And stuck with one total annihilation of what was left of the building. And digging out his bloodied remains wouldn't be any fun for any of the Avengers.

(********************************************************************************************************************************************)

Captain America wasn't sure how long he lay there under the rubble, breathing in the fumes and smoke from the flames around him but he knew that ultimately he would have to make a choice. Move or die. It was that simple. Especially when he finally realized that the woman he had been trying to save was still alive.

She'd been coughing for the past minute or so. Meaning that the smoke was getting to her even though he'd taken his mask off and put it over her nose and mouth and had been using his hand to hold it in place so that she didn't smother to death from the smoke while subtly moving his body just a bit so that he could possibly push some of the heavier stones and beams off of them.

_Hold on just a little bit longer, _He thought as sweat ran down the side of his face and dripped onto the woman's once clean shirt. The other Avenger's should have found them by now. Were they still evacuating the hospital or were the flames holding them back? Captain America wondered as he gnashed his teeth in frustration knowing that whatever the reason, he couldn't bother waiting for them any longer.

He needed to get himself and the woman to safety or else they would both be consumed by the fire.


End file.
